HOLBORN

neighbourhood and former metropolitan borough (until 1965) of London. Now part of the borough of Camden, it lies northwest of the City of London and south of the Islington neighbourhood of Clerkenwell. Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn, two of the four Inns of Court, are central features of the district. The houses of Sir John Soane's Museum overlook Lincoln's Inn Fields from the north, and the Royal College of Surgeons is on the south side. Also notable are Staple Inn and Barnard's Inn, two of the former Inns of Chancery. The Public Record Office and the Patent Office are nearby. In 1851 the Hospital for Sick Children was founded by Dr. Charles West, and it was greatly expanded in the 20th century. In 1874 the original Holborn Viaduct Station entered into service. It was closed in 1990 and replaced by a nearby subterranean station known as Thameslink City.